Facebook and Twitter will be warned to act on “trolls” who try to shame women who lodge sexual harassment claims in a federal government move to prevent the social media platforms making a traumatic experience worse.

The Minister for Women, Kelly O’Dwyer, has written to the two biggest social media companies and others in a bid to lift their standards in handling posts that turn private complaints into public disputes.

A key concern is the power of social media users to target those who lodge complaints, denying them natural justice and discouraging others from coming forward.

Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The move comes amid a political storm over the leaking of a harassment complaint against former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, heightening concerns about the problem of identifying complainants against their will.

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Ms O’Dwyer will outline the new efforts in a speech to the National Press Club today, her first major address since she was named Minister for Women last December, adding to her cabinet position as Minister for Revenue and Financial Services.

The Australian Human Rights Commission will conduct its fourth National Workplace Sexual Harassment survey in 2018, setting up an opportunity to explore the influence of social media on the problem.

Sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins warned in December against “violence supportive” attitudes that try to justify, excuse, trivialise or shift the blame for sexual harassment.

“While individuals may not themselves engage in violence or sexual harassment, these attitudes contribute to its prevalence. These attitudes have been commonplace in the reasons why bystanders have not called out sexual harassment,” she said in response to the #metoo movement.

In a recent example of the way social media intensifies attention on those who lodge complaints, the complaints against former Melbourne mayor Robert Doyle sparked widespread posts on social media as well as intense mainstream media coverage.

One of the women who lodged a complaint, former Melbourne councillor Tessa Sullivan, criticised The Herald Sun on Sunday night for portraying her as a “party animal” and publishing photographs of her wearing a bikini, saying this “appalling” coverage sought to undermined her serious complaint of assault.

While federal ministers routinely meet local Facebook and Twitter executives on issues such as media regulation, Ms O’Dwyer is aiming to set up meetings with the companies to consider problems such as the “trolls” who target women online.